Day: December 1, 2018

“2019 just might be the Year of Linux — the year in which Linux is fully recognized as the powerhouse it has become,” writes Network World’s “Unix dweeb.” The fact is that most people today are using Linux without ever knowing it — whether on their phones, online when using Google, Facebook, Twitter, GPS devices, and maybe even in their cars, or when using cloud storage for personal or business…

As we end 2018, it is interesting to check out data collected by exercise services. Strava is one of the most popular services and shared data on social aspects of fitness, trends, and commuting practices. Source: http://www.zdnet.com

AmiMoJo writes: Japanese broadcaster NHK is launching the world’s first 8K TV channel with a special edition of 2001: A Space Odyssey. NHK asked Warner Bros. to scan the original negatives at 8K specially for the channel. 8K offers 16 times the resolution of standard HD, 120 frames per second progressive scan, and 24 channels of sound. NHK is hoping to broadcast the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on the channel. 17…

Leonovo will add $7.3 million into a $1M fund settling a class action lawsuit over their undisclosed pre-installation of Superfish’s targeting adware on 28 different laptop models in 2014. Within one year the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had warned that the adware made laptops vulnerable to SSL spoofing, allowing the reading of encrypted web traffic and the redirecting of traffic from official websites to spoofs, while according to Bloomberg…

Chris Reeve writes: Wired Magazine is reporting that astronomers have since 2014 witnessed up to 100 possible instances of quasars transforming into galaxies over very short timespans, but the article leaves no hint of the trouble this spells for the Big Bang cosmology. The article begins, “Stephanie Lamassa did a double take. She was staring at two images on her computer screen, both of the same object — except they…

“The Linux Foundation and RISC-V Foundation announced yesterday a joint collaboration project to promote open source development and commercial adoption of the RISC-V instruction set architecture (ISA),” reports TechRepublic: Though some devices that integrate RISC-V will use real-time operating systems rather than Linux, the use of Linux in development will be instrumental as existing tools are being extended to support the RISC-V ISA when developing software on traditional computers. “This…

The Information: Sources: Uber has recently held talks about possible acquisitions with scooter startups Bird and Lime — Uber has held talks recently with electric scooter rental startup Bird to acquire the company in what could be a multibillion-dollar deal, said several people briefed on the discussions. Source: http://www.techmeme.com

“Bitcoin miners hit hard by the cryptocurrency’s crash may be throwing in the towel,” reports Bloomberg: The Bitcoin network’s hash rate, one way of gauging the computing power dedicated to mining the digital currency, dropped about 24 percent from an all-time high at the end of August through Nov. 24, according to Blockchain.com. While the decline may have partially resulted from miners switching to other cryptocurrencies, JPMorgan Chase & Co….